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Some real talk is coming your way today, folks.

Money, or $ going forward in this article, is a dominant thing in our lives. So much so that I am worn out with thinking about it. More on why it is on my mind in a moment. First, let me be candid.

I grew up in an upper-middle-class family and by some definitions, my own family is considered upper-middle-class. I feel fortunate to have all that we do. We aren’t wealthy, but we aren’t lacking the basic necessities and we have discretionary income to spend on things.

Even when I was early in my professional life taking entry-level jobs I doubt I would have been classified as low-income. So, I have zero ideas of what it is like for folks below the poverty line, defined as $13,590 for one individual or $27,750 for a family of four.

Because of how blessed I have been, I try to give back and help people when I can.

I do remember what it feels like to scrape by. There have been times in my life when money was beyond tight. Two particular instances stick out that I can intimately recall even today.

The first was a time that I literally had to scrounge up loose change in order to buy a meal off of a fast food $1 dollar menu. The other is a time that my wife and I remember together frequently. We needed socks and had to charge them on a credit card because we didn’t have the cash.

Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t. At least we had access to capital, i.e. credit cards. Some people don’t even have access to that when they have necessities they legitimately need to buy. Such as food or clothing.

I’m simply trying to say that $ is a thing of concern for most people. And trying to manage it can be a real burden.

Especially in an environment like the one we are in right one. Things like 8.5%+ inflation hurt a lot of wallets.

There is a popular study, published by Cornell University, that came out a decade ago that claimed that once you clear a certain income threshold, roughly $75,000, a person’s degree of happiness doesn’t improve. If we adjust for inflation, that number would be right at $100,000, or exactly $99,264.21 in today’s dollars.

I know a lot of people that are living at various levels of household income. That includes families below the inflation-adjusted $100k mark and those well above it.

Not a single one of them appears any happier than the other. They are all dealing with the same issues.

They are all working jobs that are unfulfilling that they took so they can make $ to buy things that don’t do anything to improve their degree of happiness.

I’m not being judgemental. I’m telling you, in full candor, that I have done the exact same thing.

So, let’s cut to the chase.

I’ve been passionate about helping people build the life they want to lead for some time now. I’d say I got really interested in the idea when I found the Live Your Legend tribe. I even made some career changes in order to design my own life the way I wanted it to be.

But, it is hard to do that if you don’t have your basic necessities met. This means you are going to have to make $ and/or better manage your $ in a way that frees you up to live the life you want.

What does that mean?

It means over the next few months you will see my content start to pivot in that direction. I’m going to be spending more time talking about $, how you manage it in a way to make it work better for you, and how you make $ in a way that is more meaningful in your professional life. Whether through freelancing or starting a business or even just finding work that better suits you.

The common element here is $. My mission moving forward is simple - to make my money work for me in a way that allows me to live the life I want and to be free of the stress that $ brings. And I plan to bring you along for the ride by sharing everything I already know and the new things I learn. If you are up for it.